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Monday, February 8, 2016

Book Review: "Liar" by Rob Roberge

When I read the little summary for this book I was intrigued: man who finds out that he will probably be losing all of his memories due to dementia sets out to put them all down. Great, interesting, fine. And it's kind of like that. It's more of a really choppy, but not quite stream of consciousness/fever dream, jump around time line about his life and his excessive use of drugs and alcohol over the years. Also worth nothing, I didn't know who this person was, but they are apparently a novelist who has put out some successful books.

He is told that he is at a higher than likely risk for diseases like Parkinson's and dementia, due to some concussions that he got through his life (including one he got in a car accident that was so bad that he almost was paralyzed). Though I feel like he never points out that his brain also could be damaged by the EXCESSIVE drug and alcohol abuse. Honestly, the fact that he lived past 30 seems to be a surprise to him (and to me if I'm honest). He also was diagnosed with bipolar disorder which, he says, lead to some of the drugs and drinking.

This is not an uplifting "man started doing drugs and drinking when he was 15 and eventually turns his life around" story. Though that is kind of the story. Rob is a serious alcoholic and drug user for a long portion of his life, and then gets clean for 20 years, and then falls back into his old habits.

It's probably my fault for not liking this book very much. If I had read a couple more reviews I would have probably seen that this was not a book for me. it was too nonlinear and didn't really seem to say anything. I never felt like he was bragging about his exploits. Maybe it is best read if you are a fan of his work already, then it might provide you some perspective about his writing?

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Blogging for Books

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Rating System

1 star: This was a struggle to finish.2 star: Wouldn't read it again but it had some good parts.3 star: I liked this book. I'd probably re-read it.4 star:Loved this book. Will get it from the library again!5 star: I LOVED this book and I must own it and put it on my bookshelf so I can read it at my every whim!